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hurt again. You can't walk away from her now. Her pitiful condition demands that someone reach her before she is lost forever.

In the following lackluster narrative, the main character takes flight after hearing and seeing things that defy her understanding of reality, as she knows it.

"Sara ran so fast down the street that she could feel her heart pounding. No one was supposed to have been living in the old house and she didn't know why she had heard a noise. It scared her because she was not expecting it. Now that she gave it some more thought, she recalled see a light in the upstairs window that moved around. The thunder and lightning made it even more unnerving. Sara decided that she would not take a dare like that again. She still didn't believe in ghosts, but she was shaky all the same."

Now consider the same idea rewritten as a sensory experience; as Sara confronts the fright of auditory and visual specters. As you read this example, you will share her flight and connect with her as she rethinks her beliefs about the supernatural.

"Sara's heart threatened to explode inside her chest as she propelled her body forward, arms flailing outward. Her only sane thought was to get as far away as possible from the old abandoned mansion. She could still hear that pitiful mewing that seemed to be coming from the house, itself. Nothing earthly could produce such a haunting quality; plaintive, yet menacing. But, that was ridiculous, of course. Sara, a natural skeptic of the paranormal, did not believe in what could not be seen, touched, or tasted. Perhaps a frightened stray kitten was somehow trapped inside, angered at its captivity. Still, there had been that incandescent glow in the upstairs window. Sara jumped with a start as a colossal clap of thunder clamored through the stillness of the sultry night! She briskly massaged her arms to ward off a sudden chill."

V. Getting Started

Begin developing the use of your senses in descriptive writing by first recording a few, matter-of-fact observations about something you see, or perhaps read about. Now, as you reread what you have written aloud, ask yourself how you would describe the same events if you were to employ your senses as part of the observation. This thought process will move you from merely being an onlooker into the role of a participant. Ask yourself some questions that will stimulate your new, experiential role. For instance:

1. What do you see on the face or faces of the individuals involved?

"In

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